核心问题
Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits. (New Concept English, Book 3, L.1) 这里 deer 为什么用单数？
词典解答
deer 在这里不是单数,而是复数。英语里有些表示动物名称的名词,如 deer(鹿),sheep(羊),cod(鳕鱼),几乎总是以零复数的形式出现:
-
Farmers keep sheep for their wool, or kill them for their meat [mutton]. (Neal) 农民养羊是为了卖羊毛，或者把羊杀了卖羊肉。
-
With experience, and with improved apparatus, it is now possible not only to locate a shoal but to tell if it is herring, cod, or other well-known fish, by the pattern of its echo. (New Concept English, Book 4, L.9) 由于有了经验和改进了仪器，现在不但能够探测出鱼群的位置，而且还能根据回声的类型测出鱼是鲱鱼、鳕鱼，还是其他知名的鱼。
(参见 fish)